In Kindergarten, Writers Are Making The World A Better Place For Everyone!

This past week in Kindergarten I began a new writing theme, persuasive writing. In Kindergarten this is a very fun and engaging theme because children get to write about real things that matter to them. As I began to introduce this new idea with my students I used a phrase from Lucy Calkins Unit of Study Books;“Writers Write To Make The World Better.” This was a great way to begin to explore “how to” write persuasively. Prior to this theme of study we explored how to writing so my students were already familiar with thinking about what features we might need to have when writing a persuasive piece. After we had time to think by ourselves(private reasoning time), then we turned and talked with each other. These 2 steps are important for young writers because they need to be able to have conversations face to face to help them understand their idea and also reflect on what others have to share. Then we were ready to share our ideas in a large group. We came up with 3 important key ideas. One of my students shared that he thought being able to write a persuasive piece was about convincing somebody to do something and like your idea! Yes! This was a great way for us to begin our first attempt to write our own pieces. Many of my students choose to write about real world problems, I was so amazed at what they had to say. Here are some of their ideas; ‘I want people to stop shooting animals”, ‘I want people to stop running away from bad people who want to hurt them”, “I want people to pick up garbage”, “I want people to start caring about the Earth.” Right away I noticed many things, the language that was being used, the sophistication of some of their concerns as well as the empathy everyone had.

After we began to write, many of my students noticed that a lot of our ideas started with 2 words, “I want”. So this became our story starter for our pieces. Twitter is also available for us throughout the day to share with others as well. Just by “tweeting” our ideas we connect and make connections with others. Many of our Kindergarten friends on Twitter are exploring similar themes. This is another rich way we can share and have conversations in a global way in regards to learning. This week to continue our theme I am thinking of inviting my students to convince others about why they would make a great friend. I think this will be a nice way to honor the ideas of Martin Luther King and also a great way for us to experience another way we can have hope and celebrate friendship. Many of my students were very interested in writing pieces about animals and how they need to be saved because they might get extinct! As we shared and explored our thinking and reasoning behind these animals, many of my students wanted actual photographs to see. So we used Google to help us! My students have learned these tips when we use Google to search for information to help us with what we are learning.

Google Tips:

1. Ask your teacher or an adult to help you!

2. Go to Safari on the iPad.

3. Type in photos of (name of your animal)

I am finding so many creative and wonderful ways to use digital tools to enhance and engage learning inside and outside of Kindergarten. Just by using Google we are experiencing ‘how to” to search in a safe way in regards to our learning. Experiences like this will only help my students and their families learn “how to” use digital tools in responsible ways.

I have many opportunities as an educator to make learning fun, interactive and meaningful. Just by writing a persuasive piece, we came up with many ways to share our work and use digital tools to connect and inspire our thinking.

3 responses to “In Kindergarten, Writers Are Making The World A Better Place For Everyone!”

Great idea–making the world a better place, starting in kindergarten. Maybe we could have everyone spend some time in kindergarten. What is that saying….”Everything I needed to learn I learned in kindergarten!” I’m ready for kindergarten to lead the way.

I’ve noticed that the creative writing process during this emergent stage of writing can be a bit frustrating for kids as they try to navigate remembering their ideas, spelling the words and forming the letters simultaneously. I agree that the interactive part is key. Wondering if there is an audio recording app you would recommend to create podcasts of kids “dictating” their ideas to help move them toward independence in their writing? Looking for something easily “shareable”. Ps You’re amazing!

Great observations Steph. One of the Apps we use is AudioMemos because it is easy, very easy for the children. We will be using as a way to work on reading fluency too. You can email directly from the iPad too!